When our hearts pound
by Brooke Douglas
Summary: When fifteen year old Emiko Tanaka looses her mother to a terrible fire, she has no choice but to move with her grandmother in Tokyo. She thinks that her life will continue on as normal, silent and unnoticed... but then she meets Kaoru Hitachiin...


_**Chapter 1**_

_**I looked up to the towering Ouran High School. The clock tower hid the sun, so the shadows seemed to follow me as I made my way to the front doors, feeling utterly miserable. Why was I here? Because my grandmother wanted me to come live with her after my mother died, since I'd never known my dad anyway. Don't get me wrong, I loved my Grandmother to death… but sometimes I don't think we are ever going to be on the same level.**_

"_**You must be Ms. Tanaka." I guessed it was the principal, he was the balding man who seemed to be slightly an inch shorter than me… and that was strange, since I wasn't really in the tall range myself**_**.**

"**Yes, thank you sempai for excepting my application." I told him in a false, cheery tone. I wasn't exceptionally pleased to be here, especially after seeing those ridiculous uniforms they made you wear. He made a smiley face at me.**

"**It's an honor to have the daughter of Mrs. Tanaka here in our academy!" He clapped his hands together. "I haven't spoken to her in so long! Not since she went to school here, and then she moved to France when she met your father! And you have grown to look just like her!" Was this supposed to be a compliment? Because my body suddenly felt stony and chilled. "How **_**is**_** your mother anyway Tanaka-sama?" **

"**Dead. Thank you." My voice was as icy cold as my body was, I could see the shock flicker over his face.**

"**Oh… how unfortunate for you Ms… I'm so sorry. Would you like a tour of the school?" He seemed to realize the error he had made and wanted to make up for it, but I really only wanted to be alone.**

"**No, that's quite alright. We can't stop cancer." I forced a laugh and a smile. **_**smile Emiko**_**, my grandmother would always tell me. **_**Because your smile could easily melt anybodies heart.**_** Yeah right. I was going to be unpopular in this school too, just like my last one… known as the cold, awkward girl without parents.**

"**Oh, but I must insist." He looked hungry for more gossip about my family, which I would absolutely **_**not**_** give to him. I started to shake my head, I was about ready to tell him I just wanted to start my classes and resume being the disquieted girl I'm supposed to be… when a boy appeared at the door to the principals office.**

"**I'll show her around." I swiveled around to look at him, pouting a bit, can't anybody get the picture that I'm alone anyway? And that I want to **_**stay**_** alone? The principal nodded vigorously, easily agreeing with the boys statement. The boy was a bit lanky, but not too skinny or muscular. He had messy orange hair, sticking out a bit at the back… and the prettiest topaz eyes I'd ever seen. He was wearing his uniform and slightly leaning on the doorframe.**

"**Yes, Kaoru will show you around the school!" **

"**Of course, I'll have to too in that case." Another boy, whom looked like a mirror image of Kaoru, rounded the corner to wrap his arm around his twins shoulders. "We'll do it of course… since it seems we're all first years." I tried very hard to keep in my irritation.**

"**Yea, well that's unnecessary, I can show myself around… thank you." I started to shoulder my way past them, when the principal made a loud pitched noise… like he was trying to get the attention of a dog. I turned to look at him sharply with my sapphire blue eyes, wanting nothing more but to throw a melon at his balding head.**

**He held up a uniform… one of those yellow dresses with the strange puffy shoulders. I made a face. "No. Way." I stared at him, he was really insisting I **_**wear**_** that excuse for a uniform? Did I **_**look**_** like I came from the circus? "I'll be fine in this. It's fine, really… I mean it… keep it." I shook my hands at him, hoping that I'd win this war.**

**¨©ª§Û§ª©¨**

**The dress was hideous, and fit me perfectly… I was almost hoping it'd be too big or too small, and I wouldn't have to wear it. But here I was, with the twins giggling at me and standing so close to each other… and me, for that matter, that it was sorta weird.**

"**And now you'll get that tour Ms. Tanaka." one of the twins grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him. I gasped and tried to pull away.**

"**I've had enough humiliation for one day, thanks." But he wouldn't let go. His twin looked over his shoulder.**

"**It seems she doesn't need our assistance, Hikaru." So that one was Kaoru? I was confused. I managed to pull away from him with an annoyed grimace. **

"**Yeah, I'm pretty much independent, so don't bother me." I put my hands on my hips, I'd been independent for a while, and I wasn't stupid like **_**some**_** of the snotty rich kids out there. Kaoru and Hikaru looked to each other.**

"**Sounds like us." they said in perfect unison. I started to rub my temples, I'd already memorized my schedule and the room numbers… and thrown away that stupid host club flyer… whatever **_**that**_** was… I didn't need a tour… I just needed…**

"**Got any pain reliever? I've suddenly got a major headache." I looked into the small mirror that hung on the wall behind the curtain of the dressing room. The dress just looked awful on me. My honey blonde hair just made the dress make my skin look sallow and unattractive, and the blue eyes didn't do much to help. I grabbed my hair and tried to pin it up so that it would look at least a little decent.**

"**Pain reliever?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**Just go to the nurses office." Kaoru and Hikaru both slung an arm over my shoulder. "We'll escort you, princess." I raised an eyebrow. Princess? I was anything **_**but**_** a princess.**

"**So what you two are saying… is that I'm a spoiled rotten princess." I turned to face the one to my right, I could tell it was Kaoru… I don't know why I knew it was him, I just did… that was all the persuading I needed. He crossed his arms and looked down at me with a confused smile on his face. God… he really **_**was**_** cute.**

"**Well, I guess." He kept the confused smile, but his face went a bit gentler. "Princess." I poked my pointer finger into his chest, he uncrossed his arms and sort of leaned back with a startled sound.**

"**Oh, so I see…" I narrowed my eyes a bit, my smart-ass personality suddenly took over… as if I can control it. "So you think I'm a…" I poked him harder and he flinched. "Spoiled." I flicked him on the chin and his hands shot up to touch it, his eyebrows raised. "Rotten." I flicked his nose a second later. "**_**Princess**_**." I hit the side of his head, not roughly, but not gently either. Hikaru Turned to me to glare.**

"**Well when you put it **_**that**_** way, I guess you're…"**

"**Sweet." They said together. I sighed, ignoring the spiteful comment. Yeah, I knew I was a bitch… what of it? I looked at the dress again and then put my hands behind my back and started unzipping it.**

"**What are you doing?" The twins said loudly, backing up. I looked back with one eyebrow raised.**

"**Like I'd wear this thing. I'd rather wear my own dress… thank you. Now if you'll kindly leave me alone… I'm sort of tired of you and this school already." Now I **_**really**_** wished I was back in France. I went back to unzipping my dress when suddenly the twins just zipped it right back up! I turned around with an annoyed expression. There was a slight blush to their cheeks.**

"**Just keep the dress on, Emiko-san." Kaoru pursed his lips then the two of them left. I stared after them for a minute, then looked back into the mirror. God I hated this dress… but I guess I had to get used to it… I only had to wear it at school, and it wasn't like I really cared what people thought about me while I was here.**

"**Fine… I'll wear the dress." I mumbled, pushing back the curtain to the dressing room with a grimace. **

"**We knew you'd wear the dress!"**

"**Yeah! We just knew you were sweet enough to wear it for us!" Suddenly I felt myself embraced by those two idiot twins.**

"**What are you guys? The welcoming committee?!" I felt my face flush with anger. "I told you, please just leave me alone!" I felt myself give up, of course they weren't going to leave me alone… I could totally tell because they just kept hugging me like I had been a life long friend to them. I struggled out of their grip, nobody besides my grandmother had hugged me for nearly a year… so it was weirding me out a bit. I walked out of the room, but then paused at the door… I wasn't like this… I wasn't rude… I didn't want to leave a bad impression on people who had taken the time to know me.**

"**And… thank you so much for the offer… but I must decline." I turned and flashed a sweet smile at them, they looked a bit confused… and… hurt? Dang it. I rubbed my temple. "On the other hand… I guess I don't know where the ball room is."**

**Chapter 2**

**I guess getting a tour of the school was actually worth it, because after all that time of memorizing classrooms at home… I'd never thought of where anything else was, err, like the **_**bathroom**_**. The twins were still annoying, but not as annoying as I had thought. I guess they were just trying to be friendly, since it was a month into school, and I was brand new.**

**When we got to class… everybody went absolutely gaga over my hair. Was it really such a big deal if a girl came in with honey blonde hair and bright blue eyes? They ran their fingers through it and asked me questions about it.**

"**Did you dye it? Or is it natural?" A girl asked, her mouth opened into an envious smile. I tried to hide my irritation with a slight smile.**

"**Umm, it was blonder when I was born, it actually turned a bit darker." I looked around, there were absolutely no**** blonde girls in the class. I went through them. The only colour that wasn't a shade of brown or black was the twins, whom had orange.**

"**Oh! How wonderful it must be to have blonde hair! And it's so long, too!" Another girl ran her fingers through it and then began to braid it. I was finding it hard to move with the crowd of dark haired girls around me. **

"**I've never cut it before, well, a few trims every few months, but other than that I've never had a hair cut." The girls gasped, and then more got up.**

"**I'd never be able to live that long without cutting my hair!" a couple of them shouted. Where was the teacher?**

"**It's even past her **_**waist**_**!" No, seriously, where was the teacher?**

"**Now that's what I call dedication!" I tried to untangle myself, and my hair, from them. When the teacher came in they gasped and ran to a seat. I sighed in relief. **

"**You must be Emiko Tanaka." The teacher, whom was so tall his hair probably reached the ceiling, looked down on me over his reading glasses, which were perched at the tip of his nose. I froze, looking up at him, my hair tangled and braided in strange places.**

"**Y-yes sir." I stuttered.**

"**You may take your seat Emiko-san." And then he turned to take a seat at his desk. I blushed and turned to look for a place to sit. Kaoru patted the desk next to himself with a big, impish grin. The girls gasped and giggled as I took my seat quietly, next to him.**

"**Today's lesson will be on gerunds and participles, and how a verb can be used as an adjective or a noun." He wrote a sentence up on the board.**

**Flying is my favorite pastime.**

**He turned to the class, the sunlight from the window reflecting from his glasses. "Now what is this sentence? What is the noun and what is the verb?" I raised my hand after a minute of everybody looking up to the board like morons. **

"**Yes Ms. Tanaka." He pointed to me. I took in a deep breath.**

"**Well, although Flying is usually known as a verb, in this sentence it is used as the noun. They are saying that flying is their favorite pastime. The verb phrase is 'flying is.' and the whole sentence would be a gerund, since the noun of the sentence is more commonly known as a verb." I blushed as soon as I had answered and looked down at my hands, I'd looked ahead in my text book last year and memorized a bunch of stuff. Everybody had turned around in their seats and were looking at me with big, curious eyes. Did they think I was a genius? Well I wasn't… I just had too much time on my hands.**

"**Correct. Did you cover this unit at your old school?" I looked up at him sheepishly, wondering if I should tell the truth.**

"**N-no sir." I was a terrible liar anyway, so I decided I'd better make it the truth. The teacher rubbed his chin.**

"**Hmm…" Then he turned and started calling out notes. I took out a notebook, glad he had given a distraction to everybody else.**

"**Wow…" The Kaoru looked over to me and said in a hushed voice. "You must really be smart." I glared at my notebook, pretending I didn't hear him and continued on my notes. **

"**Stop bothering her, I knew it too, it's no big deal if somebody's smart." I looked to the new voice, thinking it was a girl speaking… but the new voice had come from the small, lanky boy sitting in between the twins. He had wide, brown eyes and hair that matched them perfectly… but he looked like a girl. I blinked at him and he smiled back in return. 'thanks' I mouthed, then returned to my work.**

**When the bell rang I shot up like a rocket and began to cram all my books into my bag. I felt a hand to my shoulder and I twisted around in shock. The teacher, who I had learned was named Mr. Yoshida, looked down on me with a knowing expression. I glanced toward the twins, who shrugged and began to leave with the other boy. I gulped and looked back upward.**

"**May I help you?" I asked, licking, then biting my lips nervously.**

"**Yes. Are you sure your in the right class? You got every question right today. I'm just thinking you should be in the second year classes." I felt my eyes go wide. I shook my head, I didn't want to be a freaky, genius girl.**

"**No, that's alright. I'd just like to stay a first year." I looked at my feet. The teacher began walking away.**

"**Alright, but why don't you think about it. If the curriculum is a bit too easy for you, then you are free to move up any time." **

"**Thank you." I curtsied to him and then dashed out the door with my bag in my hand. The hallways were flooded with students. I guess I'd missed the first two classes, having gone on that tour. I looked around, it must have been free hour. I wasn't exactly sure where to go… maybe I'd just go sit by the fountain.**

"**There you are!" Hikaru and Kaoru appeared in front of me like they'd just been there all along. "Come with us!" The each grabbed a wrist and then pulled me away from the classroom door. I let out a startled squeak and tried to get out of their grip, but they were a lot stronger than they looked. **

**The twins dragged me down the hallways until we reached a door with a sign above it labeled ****Music room 3****. They opened the door and the smell of tea, pastries, and roses hit me like a dart. It was such a welcoming aroma. I breathed in deeply.**

"**Hikaru! Kaoru! Where were you? The ladies were worried! You're late!" A tall, handsome, blonde boy called from a couch in the middle of the room.**

"**We were waiting for the new girl." They said together, shrugged, then parted ways to expose me clearly. I blushed, wanting to disappear as the whole room full of people looked over to me. The blonde boy stood up and clapped his hands together.**

"**Welcome to the host club, Princess." He sauntered up and leaned down to take my face in his hand. I blushed an even darker shade of red. "Your eyes seem to twinkle like the brightest star in the sky, I can tell your heart shines even brighter." He handed me a rose and the twins groaned. I took the rose, and looked down to it.**

"**Well, I doubt that's true… since the heart is really only an organ. And my eyes are shining because they probably caught the lighting." I was such an annoying smart-alec. He seemed taken aback.**

"**Oh, umm, of course maiden." The twins broke into laughter. It wasn't that funny really. The blonde boy bowed to me.**

"**I'm the King of this host club, maiden, you may call me Tamaki. May I ask what your name is, princess?" I blinked and looked up at him.**

"**I'm Emiko." Then suddenly he moved closer and took my hand. I bit my lip and made a face. **

"**Is there something wrong?" I felt my eyes water a bit.**

"**Umm… sempai… my foot…" God! He was heavy! He looked down and jumped back, he had been stepping on my foot, and the buckle to my shoe had left an imprint into my skin. Suddenly he zoomed away into a dark corner and took up a fetal position.**

"**Umm… boss?" Hikaru and Kaoru looked to him, still smiling a bit from laughter. I raised an eyebrow.**

"**Did I… say something wrong?"**

**¨©ª§Û§ª©¨**

**The host club was a group of the schools best looking boys with too much time on their hands, set in a room to entertain the schools most beautiful women, whom also had too much time on their hands. Each of the host club members were very different. The twins had a brotherly love act, which I didn't understand very much… why did the girls seem so gaga over it? Tamaki was a princely sort, very romantic. Hunny-sempai was a cute, short seventeen year old, (whom at first I thought was nine) and who carried a stuffed rabbit named usa-chan. kyouya was a smart, laid back man who seemed to write on his clip board too much, like he was taking notes. Mori-sempai was very quiet, and followed Hunny everywhere he went… he didn't seem to speak much. And then there was the boy who spoke up to Kaoru in class after I had gotten the answer right; Haruhi. **

"**Come sit with us today, Emiko!" The twins called to me. I managed to pry myself from my own little world (which was the wall) and strode over to the table where the twins sat. I stopped about a foot away. "That's right. Sit down." They pointed to a chair with big, cheesy grins. I sat. The girls around them stared. I really did look like an alien. Over the summer I'd spent a lot of time in the sun, gardening and swimming and such… and I'd gotten a small tan as a result. The exposure had also made my hair lighter, and my eyes were so blue. The girls around me had dark hair, brown eyes and pale skin. And my dress just didn't seem to fit me like it did the other girls… the colour yellow just made me look ridiculous.**

"**So, Emiko." Kaoru took my hand in his and gave me an alluring smile, as did Hikaru. "You used to live in France? What was that like?" I fought back to urge to shake him off me.**

"**Different…" I started. "I wasn't the only blonde." I hoped I didn't sound as nasty as I did in my mind. The girls laughed slightly and so did the twins.**

"**Well this school does seem to need a change." Hikaru wrapped an arm around me and both of them leaned in close. I blushed a kept my gaze straight, wearing an annoyed expression. "So, why did you move here?" Kaoru poured me a cup of tea and I took it gingerly.**

"**I…" Wasn't sure what to say… "Well… my parents died." I took a sip of tea, scalding my tongue. I flinched and set the tea down. "My dad had died when I was three, so I don't remember much about him, other than all the photo's and paintings around our house. My mother took up his business, we own a large line of fancy restaurants all over the world. On the side… she was an artist. She showed me a lot when she was alive. I learned to paint like her, and sing like her… I always loved it when she would sing to me…" I hadn't noticed that a tear had slipped down my face until I looked down and saw it drop into my tea. "She had such a pretty voice… and even though it was only me and my mom… we became richer than ever by doing shows and singing for important conferences. Everything was going great…until…" I looked at the twins expressions through the tea, and could tell they were staring at me with large, sad eyes that spelled out… sorry. I glanced up. "Fire." I tried to hide my terror. "It was a peaceful night, a Friday. I was just going to bed when the fire alarm sounded. I ran down the hall to find that the whole hall leading from the guest room to my mothers room was in flames. A maid rushed over to me and tried to get me to get out, but I just had to save my mother… But it turns out the fire started in her room… there was no saving her. They got me out and put out the fire… but they couldn't even find my mothers body amongst the rubble. Half of our house had been destroyed that night… I didn't have anybody else to go to besides my grandma… so I came here… Luckily I had taken three courses of Japanese in middle school." I smiled slightly, tears ran freely down my face. I hadn't even noticed that the twins were crying and holding me too. The girls at our table were sobbing along with us.**

"**W-we're s-sorry, Emiko!" Kaoru scooted his chair closer to mine and pressed his cheek against my cheek, sobbing his eyes out.**

"**W-we h-had n-n-no idea!" Hikaru squeezed me tighter. I wasn't sobbing anymore, although there were still a few tears running down my cheek.**

"**That's so tragic!" One of the girls cried, wiping her eyes with her napkin. There was a thunder of footsteps.**

"**Why is everybody crying?" Tamaki was looking at me and the twins with disbelieving eyes. Did I really have to run through the whole thing again? And then everybody was gathering around the table with curious expressions.**

"**I guess I'll have to explain it again…" After I was done with my story… for the second time… everybody in the whole room was sobbing all over me, I swear… I couldn't breathe with the twins and Tamaki holding onto me so tight.**

"**Guys… I can't breathe…" I managed to gasp out. They let go of me and I fixed my hair. One thing that was good about my appearance, was that I never wore any make-up. So my face was only a bit wet, while others were smeared with mascara and eyeliner.**

"**I'm sorry." Haruhi put a hand on my shoulder. "I know what it's like to loose somebody. My mothers dead too. But you're not alone anymore…" I looked up at him, blinking tears from my eyes… what did he mean? "We're here. The host club can be your family." Chapter 3**

"**Mistress Tanaka?" I opened my eyes as the maid drew back the curtains to the large window in my bedroom, the light hurt my eyes and I groaned and closed my eyes again. "It's time to get up Emiko-sama. What would you like for breakfast?" I sat up in bed, revealing a very lacy nightgown, and stretched my arms over my head with a little grunt.**

"**Pancakes… Blueberry pancakes with expensive maple syrup and a big glass of orange juice." There was a bit of crust around my eyes, so I rubbed them in an attempt to get it off. Today was the second day of school, and I now had the whole host club on my side. I sweat dropped and looked around my room, then out the window. The sun was shining brightly, and there were only a few wispy little clouds floating about.**

"**It's a nice day…" A maid went around the room with a little duster, and I quietly got out of bed, the canopy getting in my way a bit… which agitated me.**

"**Yes." I responded, my voice a little slurred from lack of sleep. "It is." I quickly grabbed the remote for the large T.V my grandmother had kindly placed in my room, and turned it on. I flopped back onto my bed, my feet dangling off. **

"**Your uniform is hanging in the closet mistress. Please get it on." The maid sounded like a mother did, and it made me smile a fraction… I missed my mother.**

**¨©ª§Û§ª©¨**

"**Oh! Emiko! Your hair!" A girl ran up to me as I entered the classroom, and I put on a make-believe smile. Everybody crowded around me again. All I had done with my hair was straighten it and pull it into a half ponytail, with my bangs hanging in my eyes. **

"**Yeah. It was pretty easy actually." I ran a finger through my hair and pushed to my seat. Kaoru had nonchalantly leaned over, and had his foot on my chair. Obviously it had been to save it for me, and I could see the envious stares of the girls as I smiled and walked over.**

"**Thanks for saving me a chair, Kaoru." He stopped smiling for a moment when I said his name. Both Hikaru and Haruhi glanced over. We stared at each other, and I felt a small flush stick to my face.**

"**Um… what?" Kaoru seemed to come back to reality. He shook his head, as if to clear it, and then took his foot off the chair so I could sit down. I stood there for a moment, looking at him with a confused face, and then carefully sat down. Haruhi glared at him.**

"**Oh come on Kaoru, you saved a seat for her, but now your just going to ignore her?" Kaoru looked over to her, flinching slightly at her irritated voice, then turned to me and smiled a bright, lopsided smile.**

"**Hello there, Emiko-san." I smiled back slightly.**

"**Is… there something wrong, Kaoru?" I cocked my head slightly to the side, the girls around us turned to watch enviously as Kaoru leaned back in his chair, touched my face lightly and stared into my eyes with a sweet smile.**

"**It's nothing." he told me. I laughed slightly, blushing, and silently took his hand from my face and put it on my desk. The girls around us gasped.**

"**Kaoru put his hand on her face… and she took it off?"**

"**Yeah… if Kaoru ever did that to me, I'd never wash my face again." The gossip around us grew more profound as minutes passed and finally I looked up and glared.**

"**Oh, yes! A cute boy just touched my face! Let's all just sit around and talk about it! I'll never wash my face **_**ever**_** again, I don't even care if I get tons of zits!" I snapped. The gossipers eyes grew wide and the twins had to put a hand to their mouths to hide their laughter. Kaoru had the slightest sheen of a blush on his face.**

**I tried to hide myself behind my hands, why did I have to explode like that?… and what's worse… I called Kaoru cute… he must think I like him or something.**

"**But, I was just being sarcastic… so I-I…" didn't have any idea what to say.**

"**It's okay Emiko." Haruhi chuckled and turned to wink at me. "I think that talking behind peoples back is rude too." The girls looked mortified.**

"**We're sorry!" They cried. "We didn't mean it!" they put their hands together in a pleading way. They stared, teary eyed, at Haruhi.**

"**Well ladies," Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "I don't think Haruhi's the one you should be apologizing to." The girls turned slightly toward me, not all the way, and not meeting my eyes. I looked to Hikaru with a mortified expression.**

"**It was just a bunch of mindless gossip… nothing huge… don't make it a big deal. It's fine… I was the one who lost her cool and exploded. I'm sorry." I pressed my fingers together and bit my lip, looking down. I hated being the center of attention. A bit of gloom swam over my head.**

"**No, it is a big deal." The twins said together. "A bit of gossip can get blown out of proportion." They waggled their fingers and gave me those impish grins. I just groaned and hid my head in my arms on my desk.**

"**I think we killed her." I sweat dropped at Kaoru's remark. I didn't look up as the teacher entered, but suddenly I could feel his looming shadow crawl over me. I looked up slightly at him, his glasses reflected the sky outside, and I couldn't see his eyes.**

"**Are you okay Tanaka-san?" He didn't say it like he cared, more as if he was bored and thought it was just another duty. I blushed and the class giggled.**

"**Peachy…" I mumbled sarcastically. The teacher seemed to nod in the slightest and then stalked up to the front of the class. He wrote a math problem up on the board.**

"**Emiko, since you seem to be so cheeky today, please do the problem." I looked at it, a blue tinge staining my forehead. It was easy, just multiplying a polynomial by a monomial. I quickly did the math in my head.**

"**12t****² + 15k+ 6." I replied, burying my head again. The class seemed to go silent, and I could feel the stare of the teacher into the top of my head.**

"**That's correct." He turned and did another problem, layering it out and showing everybody else how to do it. I took notes half the time, but mainly just stared out the window with my head in the clouds. **

**After class had droned on, the teacher dismissed us and we got up to leave. I stuffed papers into my bag and stood up straight.**

"**I hope you haven't forgotten my offer." My head jerked to the left to meet the teachers eyes… well… the skies reflection.**

"**Unfortunately, I had… but you went and brought it to the front of my mind again. But I'm telling you again… I'm not interested." I blinked and looked away when I saw both the twins and Haruhi giving me a questioning look. I just shook my head and started to walk out of the room. Mr. Yoshida went back to grading our tests, then held mine up with a big fat A painted on the top. I sighed and left the room, wishing he'd lay off.**

**¨©ª§Û§ª©¨**

**The twins had dragged me to the host club again, but as they dragged me to their table I sweat dropped.**

"**Don't **_**I**_** get to pick where I sit? Because I'd like to sit with Haruhi today." The twins let go of my wrist then put their heads together with bewildered expressions.**

"**Haruhi? Why Haruhi?" I shrugged. Really, it was mainly because I didn't want the twins pestering me about how smart I was… I just had too much time on my hands, so I studied… so what?**

"**I want to get to know him better." Actually… maybe it was because I wanted to find out if my assumption was correct.**

"**Fine." They shrugged, then turned and stalked off towards their table. I licked my bottom lip, which had gone a bit dry, and then walked over to Haruhi's table. Haruhi looked up.**

"**Mind if I request you today?" Haruhi shrugged and smiled sweetly.**

"**No, I don't mind at all. Take a seat Emiko." I sat down, and a second later was almost thrown off my seat by a blonde blur.**

"**Emi-chan!!" A nickname? I looked down at Hani-sempai, and, unsure what else to do, patted his head.**

"**Hi Hani." I looked up as Takashi-sempai walked up. "Hi Mori."**

"**Hi." Mori said indifferently. Hani laughed and stepped back, holding his beloved stuffed bunny, Usa-chan. I chuckled and the boy-Lolita gave me big, sparkling eyes.**

"**Are you going to be a regular customer Emi-chan?" I nodded and smiled. I wasn't sure why, but I felt at peace here.**

"**Yay!" He jumped for joy. "You have to request us sometime!" And without even waiting for my answer he skipped off toward his own table. I frowned, then slightly smiled.**

"**So what brings you here?" Haruhi asked, stirring his tea. I turned. I was really unsure how to put this…**

"**You're… a girl, aren't you Haruhi?" Well that was one way. Haruhi looked up at me, her left eyebrow raised slightly. At first I thought I was wrong, and I wanted to take back my words… but then…**

"**Yeah." I blinked. I had been correct then? Maybe my grandmother was right, maybe I **_**was**_** good at guessing games, or maybe I just paid too much attention, and stereotyped people. And before I could respond, the whole host club was around me, their eyes shining, their faces defensive.**

"**Um…" I started, but Kaoru interrupted me.**

"**So you found out…"**

"**The secret…" Hikaru finished for him. I looked at the six guys around me, the only one that didn't look intimidating was Hani, and even Mori!**

"**I… won't tell." I promised, bringing my hands up in an innocent pose. Suddenly the twins gathered me up and dragged me out of the room.**

"**Hey!" I could feel the fire in my eyes burning wildly, and I thrashed about in their arms. "Let me down! Stop! I hate it when people carry me! This is harassment!" When we were out of the room, they dropped me, and I felt trapped between their daunting eyes and the wall. I glared at them, panting after having lost my breath from yelling.**

"**Hey guys! Cut it out. She figured it out, and so I told her the truth." Haruhi came next, followed my the rest of the host club.**

"**We will be right back my princesses!" I heard Tamaki announce dramatically. I could imagine the sparkles around him and his smile flashing. The girls all squealed and giggled like they'd just seen the best thing in the world, and then Tamaki appeared by me too. I glared at the faces around me, did I really need to be treated like a criminal. Kaoru stepped back though, and after a couple moments, so did Hikaru.**

"**So, I see you've figured out our little secret miss Tanaka." kyouya adjusted his glasses, pushing them closer to his face with his forefinger. I just looked to him, my head a bit downward, my eyes fixed to his, and my jaw set in a stubborn way. "But I'll have to warn you. Haruhi has to dress as a boy for reasons only known to us. And if the word leaks out, my father owns a police force of more than one hundred officers." He gave me a stare, with an evil glint in his eye.**

"**Well, if we're playing a game of intimidation here sempai… you don't scare me." kyouya looked up a fraction, and brown bore into blue. ""You see, my grandmother owns the companies of the best lawyers from all around the world. So even though you could try and arrest me, I'd be able to get out very easily, seeing as I'm covered. Now…if you think you can scare me like that, then you have another thing coming. I've been through more scary moments than most people." I pushed through them, I was so tired of the sudden rudeness. "I'll be off." I could sense their eyes cutting into the back of my head, but I was way to pissed off to even acknowledge that.**

"**Wait princess!" I heard Tamaki shout. I stopped and turned around so that I could see them, but they couldn't see anything but my right eye and a bit of my nose. He was on his knees, tears streaming down his face… pathetic. "They d-didn't mean it like that. They weren't thinking!"… in other words… **_**they**_** bore all the responsibility for my departure. I turned fully around.**

"**I just sort of want to go home now. I mean, tomorrow's Saturday… so I'm going to do all of my homework before the weekend. And-" I knew it… I just knew it. Before I could even finish I was being dragged back in. Haruhi gave me a sympathetic look.**

**¨©ª§Û§ª©¨**

"**Thank you, Kaoru." I took the tea he handed me without expression, trying to busily finish my math homework. Homework was such a bother… but it gave me something to do as I sat in the corner table, ignoring the world. I've always been like this. I never had many friends, except for a commoner I befriended in France. The girl had helped me find my way around the mall when I had snuck out to explore the commoner world. And ever since then, we'd become closer friends. But everything changed when the fire started. My life had been changed… and now I was stranded again, utterly lost and alone.**

"**No problem…" I felt him lean over my shoulder. "Why do you want to sit in a corner all alone anyway?" I blinked up at him, finally looking away from the symbols and numbers before me.**

"**Well, it's just easier for me. I'm not a social genius or anything. And…" I pursed my lips, was I really about to tell a boy I met two days previous my inner thoughts? Baka…**

"**Hey," He sat down in the seat next to me, his face suddenly serious. I tilted my head a bit… I have to admit, it was an obnoxious habit of mine. "How can you tell I'm Kaoru? Even after we first met. How can you tell the two of us apart?" I put a finger to my lips thoughtfully.**

"**I guess I never really thought about it. I just know." I told him. Kaoru raised an eyebrow.**

"**What, a woman's intuition?" **

"**Well, that's an interesting thought all it's own… but your voice is a bit softer in pitch than Hikaru's, and your politer." I took a sip of the tea. "Or maybe I'm just really good at guessing games." Chapter 4**

**The weekend. Finally. I was done with all my homework, and now all I had to do was relax in the pool, or play video games in my room, or just plain sleep in… or…**

"**Mistress Tanaka?" A maid peeped into my room. Luckily, I was still under my blankets and she didn't see my see-through nightgown (the only one I had brought with me).**

"**Yes? What is it?" I mumbled, turning my head slightly so I wasn't speaking into the pillow. I closed my eyes again, not wanting to wake up quite yet. It was the weekend for heaven sakes, what could my maid possibly want with me this early in the morning?**

"**Are you decent, mistress?" I cocked an eyebrow, my eyes slitting open. What kind of a question was that?**

"**Well, not particularly. Why?"**

"**Because your friends came to visit you." My eyes flew open, and time seemed to stop. Friends?… that could only mean.**

"**Emi-chan! Wake up! We're going to the beach!" Honey-sempai walked into my room, followed closely by Mori… his own personal shadow… the twins… Tamaki… kyouya… Haruhi was the only absent one. I felt my face drain of colour and I sat up, clutching my blankets to my chest.**

"**Wha-wha-what? How in the world do you know where I **_**live**_**?" I managed to stutter out. Kyoya pushed his glasses up to his face.**

"**It seems she needs some time to get ready."**

"**WHAT'DYA MEAN GET READY!? WHO SAYS I'M GOING ANYWHERE?!" I yelled at them.**

"**Well, that's not very nice." The twins said together. "After we went through all the trouble to come and pick you up." I felt my eye twitch a bit.**

"**P-please get out of my room… so… I can dress." The twins smiled devilishly.**

"**Need any help?" I glared them down.**

"**I think I can manage on my own." Did this mean I had to wear a swimsuit?**

**¨©ª§Û§ª©¨**

**I guess I had really thought we'd be spending the day on the **_**beach**_**… and not Tamaki Souh's private yacht. It was a strange yacht. The sides of the boat only reached up to my waist, and I kept on thinking I was about to fall into the depths of the ocean below. **

"**When they made the yacht, it was originally for landing planes and helicopters. My family bought it and redid the whole thing, but they messed up slightly on the sides." Tamaki had explained to me a bit earlier when I had asked about it. I lay out on a rubber raft floating in the middle of the ships pool, sporting a baby blue bikini with a Hawaiian flower stitched into one of the breasts. I really hated wearing a swimsuit in public, but the twins hadn't left me alone about it, and Honey said I looked cute so…sigh… I gave in. The worst thing about it was that minutes after the yacht had taken off from the shore, murky gray clouds had gathered in the sky… so I couldn't get a tan, and the air was a bit chilly.**

"**Well. This sucks." Hikaru and Kaoru said, looking up to the sky with blank stares. "I bet it's going to rain and ruin our fun." I sighed and curled up on the raft, closing my eyes and wanting to disappear. There were a couple of things I hated… and one of them was being dragged out of my house against my will to be bored on a boat… I'm sure most people aren't keen on the idea. Then, as suddenly as a lightning bolt, my world was twirled around and I was flung off the raft into the pool. I flailed for a moment, then jolted up to the surface, taking in gulps of air when I hit the surface. The twins were now leaning over the edge, arms outstretched and holding the side of the raft, giving me big, goofy, evil grins. I started swimming for the side of the pool.**

"**You guys are like malicious sharks." I reached the ladder, and climbed my way up, ignoring their giggles.**

"**You think **_**we're**_** vicious." They leaned down so they were face to face with me as I neared the top of the ladder. I raised an eyebrow.**

"**What exactly are you two implying?" I felt droplets of the pool water run down my face from my bangs, which were now sticking to my forehead, and were slightly a shade darker. They stood up straight and shrugged.**

"**Well, you're the stubborn one, Emiko." They said. I blinked, letting out a little grunt of surprise. I pursed my eyebrows together.**

"**How so?"**

"_**weeeeeeell**_**…"**

**Flashback (in third person) ~~**

"**Come on Emiko, come on!" The twins pulled at Emiko's wrist's as she struggled against them. Kaoru held a swimming suit in his right hand and looked at her expectantly.**

"**No way in hell, guys." She pulled even harder, and they let go… sending her flying into the wall. They advanced with the swimming suit. **

**Present~~**

"**Umm… how in the world was I the vicious one in that predicament?" I was now sitting on the edge, with my feet dangling in the water. The twins shrugged and walked off, shoulder to shoulder. My eyes narrowed calmly, and I lowered my head a bit in thought. I don't exactly know what I was thinking about… maybe about life. Maybe about my mother, and my father… and the host club.**

"**Hey Emi-chan." Hani-sempai sat down beside me. I'd never seen the boy without his bunny before, so it was weird to look over and see him look like a regular teenage boy… despite his height.**

"**Hey." I was still a bit out there, whenever I started to daydream about my parents… I was always silent for a few minutes afterward.**

"**What are you thinking about?" He turned toward me, with a curious little smile. I put a finger to my lip in a thoughtful pose.**

"**Hard stuff to think about. Just life… **_**my**_** life in particular." I closed my eyes for a second, picturing my mother beside me, laughing and humming a pretty tune under her breath… it was **_**that**_** tune, **_**her**_** lullaby.**

"**What are you humming?" My eyes opened, I hadn't even realized I'd been the one humming, and not my mom.**

"**Nothing, just improvising a bit." I smiled over at him. It was easier to talk to Hani than it was to talk to the twins. It was weird how I could tell somebody something that I couldn't tell another.**

"**It's pretty. And you have a cute voice too!" He smiled, and little flowers filled the background. I grinned back at him.**

"**So why aren't you swimming?" He wasn't even wearing a swimsuit, I must have been blind not to have noticed before. He laughed his honey laugh and got up, looking down on me with a cute, baby face…. This was the face of a martial arts major? I didn't know a lot about the Haninozukas, but I knew enough about them to a point of where his smile seemed out of place. How did a karate kid… come to be in a club like the host club?**

"**The twins and Tamaki are going to play some hockey, so I thought I might join, you know?" He did a cute pose, and then skipped off to a far off corner of the boat where the others were strapping skates onto their feet. Hockey on a boat? I just shrugged it off and stood up. Hani was a bit more mature than I had earlier thought… due to his height, for a while I had thought he was just an elementary student in a high school uniform… I mean, after all, they **_**did**_** cosplay a lot. **

**The sea breeze smelled wonderful, like rain and salt and lush grasses. It cleared my head as I paced between the pool and the edge. Maybe getting up and coming hadn't been such a bad idea. I heard Tamaki yelling out rules about the hockey game to the others, and they responded with yells of, "Yes **_**sir**_**!" I chuckled silently to myself, yeah… it wasn't so bad. I guess I had just never been around so many people before, and it was new to me. I'd been trapped in my own world of gloom for months since my mother died. Is that why I was sent to school? Grandma could have easily gotten a private tutor… and I was smart enough to learn on my own. Her words ran through my head again. **_**Smile, Emiko. Because your smile could warm anybodies heart.**_** What had she actually meant? Had she meant that I should be happy and make new friends? She had seemed so delighted when I told her I had friends. **

**I stepped up to the side of the boat and looked over into the roaring sea below. The waves were an endless torrent of hungry, foaming jaws. They licked the side of the yacht in earnest, maybe even wildly. I felt a raindrop on my cheek, and I quickly wiped it off and looked up to the sky, holding out a hand, palm up, to feel for more. Soon rain was falling lightly, and it seemed to freeze me. I looked around for my towel, and almost slipped in the process… the deck had become slick with puddles. I barely even heard the cry… until it was a bit too late to react.**

"**Emiko! Watch out!" I turned, my fingers scraping the side of the boat, just in time to see one of the twins sliding toward me, completely out of control on the slick deck with his skates on. I felt my eyes widen, and time seemed to slow down a bit. I watched in horror as the twin I knew as Hikaru, collided with me, and I lost my balance and tipped over the side of the boat, falling through the icy air and into the hungry waves below.**

**¨©ª§Û§ª©¨**

**I'd never been a fan of falling. I hated the gut feeling, where the blood seemed to pound through your veins, and your stomach flew up to where your heart was, and your heart to your head. I couldn't think while falling, only about the fall itself, and this fall was the worst. Rain pelted me on all sides and the wind howled in my ears like a whining animal. I couldn't open my eyes after I had closed them on impact, and I couldn't see how far the fall really was, which may or may not have been a good thing. All I knew for sure was that I really, truly, was falling to what may or may not be my death. I was awfully calm, knowing that it was a good chance I might drown as soon as I reached the water… but nothing could be worse than the fall… I had thought that until I had actually hit the waves.**

**The water was worse by far, and it ate me up as soon as I splashed into it. My body seemed to freeze up, and I couldn't move. I kept my eyes closed and, on instinct, I opened my mouth to either scream or take a breath. Water filled my lungs, and I started thrashing around. My head popped up to the surface, and I coughed and sputtered and tried to take a breath, but the water intruded into me again and I was sent under into a coughing fit yet again. The water tasted awful and salty, like it had been tainted earlier on so I was sure to be done in. But I had to stay calm and swim upward, although each stroke was rigid and robotic, and it didn't get me far. When I hit the surface again, I took in a breath and stupidly used it up to scream. My scream was caught by the wind, and I was pulled down again by the waves. I was sure the boat was moving away. I stopped struggling, letting the storm pull me down… what was the use of last struggles anyway? I was dead for sure, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't change that. I was about to slip into unconsciousness, when a strong arm wrapped around my waist and I was pulled up a bit. The storm seemed to pull us back, but my rescuer was strong and we hit the surface. I was too tired to see who it was, and I couldn't breathe. I could only feel myself slip into myself, and I could only see the blackness. Was this death? No… death didn't hurt this much.**

**¨©ª§Û§ª©¨**

**Kaoru's point of view**~~

I watched in horror as Hikaru slipped, and went wheeling toward Emiko, who was standing next to the side. My first instinct was to run, but my feet were frozen, and only the words came out.

"Emiko! Watch out!" I saw her look up with a bewildered expression, right as Hikaru bumped into her. The shock overtook me as she fell overboard, like a doll being thrown. I felt my jaw fall slack.

"Hikaru! You _idiot!"_ Tamaki and I yelled together. I saw Hikaru hanging over in an attempt to grab her, and I skated over by him, looking over to see the splash where she had hit the water.

"N-no! You killed her! Hikaru! You killed my little girl!" Tamaki fell to his knees, tears swimming in his eyes. I couldn't comprehend what was going to happen… I didn't want to think about finding her cold, pale, lifeless body falling to the bottom of the ocean.

"Somebody has to help her! Mo-" Before Hikaru and I could finish our sentence, kyouya took off his shirt and stepped up.

"Calm down. Just throw me a rope when I hit the surface with Emiko." He calmly stepped up to the side as Emiko screamed and then smoothly dived into the water. Mori was wearing a face halfway through indifferent and shocked. I had thought that it would be Mori that would have dived in to save her… but kyouya? Did he have enough muscle power to save her?

"Rope!" Hikaru and I exclaimed, turning toward the boss. I was shaking, and so was Hikaru… him even worse than me… because he was the one who did it. The boss ran off and got a floaty, then went over to the anchor.

"Help me get the anchor off so we can have this rope." He called to us. Hikaru and I dashed over and started yanking at the rope. The knot was pretty tight, but with a little effort… and Mori-sempai's help, we were able to get it loose and tie it to the raft. I grabbed the circular floatation device and ran over to the side.

"I can't see them! Where are they?" Hani was crouched on the edge. "Hani! Don't sit there!" I blinked and started walking towards him, but Hani just held out a hand for him to stop.

"I see them, hand me my floaty." I handed it to him as Hikaru came up behind me and rested his chin on my shoulder. I patted his cheek in an effort to comfort him, because even though the rain hid it, I could feel his sobs.

"Hikaru… it was an accident." He didn't respond. I watched as Hani dived down with the floaty. I didn't go to watch, I felt I didn't need to see the struggle, neither did Hikaru. "Why don't we go get some blankets and a stretcher? They'll need them when they come up."

"What if she's dead though!?" Hikaru clenched his fists, sliding away from me, his teeth gritted and his eyes closed. "I'm so careless! I killed her! I would have been a murderer!" I silently reached out a hand and touched his shoulder. He flinched a little at my touch, but otherwise didn't move an inch.

"Let's get some towels Hikaru." I told him again. And before I knew it, we were running down a hallway on the yacht, stepping into each room in turn and grabbing all the towels and blankets we could carry. When our load was full, we took off down the hall again and outside, where the rain was letting up just a bit, although it still sprinkled down. kyouya was kneeled beside Emiko, who didn't appear to be breathing. I felt the towels slip from my grip and I ran to the scene before me.

"kyouya… she's…?" kyouya put up a hand for me to stop.

"Who here knows CPR? Besides me, since Hani and I saved her… somebody else will do this." He gave us a gaze of death and we all gulped. Mouth to mouth? The club was silent.

"Kaoru will do it." Hikaru nudged me hard in the ribs with his elbow. kyouya smiled, much to my horror.

"Better do it quick Kaoru, or she'll be dead in a matter of seconds." I was frozen, and I seemed completely unaware of what I was doing, until I saw that I was crouched down beside her.

"Can't I just do… compressions?" I hesitantly put my palm on her chest, god… awkward.

"No, she's swallowed water, so you'll have to do both Kao-chan." Hani appeared beside me. I chuckled without humor.

"Great… alright then…" I did ten compressions, by the direction of kyouya… who seemed to enjoy my pain and nervousness. Then I carefully tilted her head back and opened her mouth. Umm… oh jeez.

"So… I…"

"_**DO IT NOW!**_" The whole club yelled at me, and, out of shock, I crushed my mouth to hers and started breathing.

"No, breathe deeper." Hikaru told me. I glared.

"Shut up Hikaru." I mumbled out of the corner of my mouth, still breathing… but I took the advice and I could feel her chest rise once… twice… with every breath I blew out. I took my mouth from hers and lay my head on her chest, listening for any sign of breath. My heart skipped a beat as I heard a faint pounding sound. She was alive.

"Come on Emiko! Breathe, would ya?!" I commanded the unconscious girl, and crushed my lips to hers again, was I even doing this right?… would god count this as a kiss? And then… suddenly…

¨©ª§Û§ª©¨

**Emiko's point of view…again~~**

Reality was a bit dim for me… but I could hear voices, faint… but they were definitely there. Was I dead? Where was my mother? And my father? The blackness seemed to overwhelm me, but suddenly… I could feel my chest rise, and my body demanded I take a breath… but I couldn't, there was something in the way… I opened my eyes wide, and found myself looking into Kaoru's golden gaze. His expression became shocked and he took his lips from mine. I rolled over and coughed up seawater, taking in deep gulps of air, thankful for the great creation of oxygen! Go periodic table!

"Good job Kaoru." kyouya was busily wrapping a towel around my shoulders. It took me a moment to focus on what had just happened. With my eyes still huge, I turned to the shell-shocked Kaoru.

"K-k-kaoru?" I shivered, I was still freezing, and the towel had turned wet as soon as it had touched me.

"That was mouth to mouth. Not a kiss." He pointed out. A little red cross appeared on my forehead.

"I-I'm not an id-d-diot." I stuttered out, my teeth chattering. I then let my glare fade into one of wonder, he saved my life.

"Kaoru… thanks." I turned away awkwardly. I could see Kaoru scoot away from me a bit out of the corner of my eye.

"Well… no problem. But it was really kyouya that saved you." My eyes widened again.

"K-kyouya?" I shivered again, it was incorrect timing I guess. kyouya covered me with another towel.

"The rain is picking up again, Let's get her inside before her lips freeze off."

"Her lips are blue!" Tamaki shouted, tugging at my lower lip.

"Stop it! You're making matters worse!" I yelled at him, and he let go, going to sulk in a corner. My lip throbbed a bit. "S-sheesh."

Once we were inside a large, neatly decorated room, (similar to a hotel room) Mori lay me on the bed, because my legs had been too numb to even stand. Kaoru hadn't even looked at me, and Hikaru would sometimes turn to him and snicker something about it being a kiss.

"You shouldn't be talking. I saved her, but you're the one who drowned her." Kaoru finally pointed out. Hikaru's face seemed to drain of colour and he was suddenly hugging me.

"Emiko… this was my fault! I'm so sorry!" I shrugged and hugged him back, trying desperately to be nice.

"It's okay Hikaru, Accidents happen. Besides, now I've got an epic story to tell everybody on Monday. Where I accidentally fell off a yacht, and the brave host club saved my life!" I made my voice sound overly dramatic, and I sort of reminded myself of Tamaki. Kaoru chuckled lightly, looking to me now… but when he saw I was looking at him, he blushed and turned away again.

"Speaking of the host club… why isn't Haruhi here?" Tamaki made a face and his eyes teared up.

"She said she didn't want to bother with it." Hikaru shrugged, looking upward with an amused face. "Personally I don't blame her, today turned out to be weird." I yawned.

"Hey guys?" I said, and the club looked to me. "I was wondering when I'm going home… My grandma will be home soon, and I want to tell her all about this… and Kaoru! Quit doing that! It wasn't a kiss! So you shouldn't be doing that!" Kaoru's head jolted up as I yelled at him. Now his expression was sheepish.

"We'll take you home soon, the yachts heading back to shore, and kyouya already called a limo to get us back." He responded, still blushing. I sighed and lay back on the pile of pillows the boys had set up for me. My blonde hair felt wet and uncomfortable under me, and it made the pillows feel that way too, which just added. But, despite my situation, I was asleep before anybody could even sing twinkle twinkle little star.

Chapter 5

All I remember of the car ride home, is flashes of somebody carrying me off the boat, and the black interior of the limo… but other than that I was perfectly asleep and dreaming quietly about the past. In my dream, my mother stooped down with a shovel in her hand, the small kind, usually used for gardening purposes.

"_Emiko. Come plant flowers with me!" I ran up to her, my cheeks still had baby fat and they shone red with a five year olds charm._

"_Flower planting?" I looked up to her, and she looked back down at me, her smile pleasant and her hazel eyes glinting._

"_Once we're done, we'll have the prettiest yard in the world!"_

I woke up, the memory fading from me. I groaned, wanting it to come back. Wanting to see my mom.

"Finally awake, dear?" My eyes flew open, and I looked at my grandmother, who was perched beside me on the bed. My lips parted. She was home early.

"You're home already?" Grandma just laughed, her wispy gray hair coming down her shoulders, her kind blue eyes shining.

"It's the middle of the night, you slept for so long, and I really had to pry your friends away from your bedside." She smiled, the biggest smile I'd ever seen on her. "You seem to have some very nice friends! And so many too! And, oh my! They were all so handsome too. I told you Emiko. I bet you just had to smile." I held back a little snort… no, the opposite of that. I just had to tell my life story and shed a few tears! And I won a bunch of bozos. I gave her a little grin.

"Well, my life will probably never be the same." That wasn't a lie… completely. My grandmother silently put the back of her hand to my forehead, and I pulled back a bit from her cold touch.

"You're still burning up a bit. You've had a minor fever since they brought you. Don't scare me like that again, Emiko." She pulled back her hand and I could see a few tears spring into her eyes. "When Otori-san called my office, I thought you were dying. I thought I'd never see that smile again." I frowned slightly, my eyes blinking and becoming wider.

"Grandmother…" I began to reach out to her, then brought my hand back and sheepishly brought it through my ratty bed-head. "I'm fine! I'll always be fine. I promise I won't get too bloody these next years." I let out a little laugh and gave her an impish grin, and she couldn't help but smile brightly back at me, herself again.

"I know you can take care of yourself sweetheart, but I fear… ever since I lost your mother… I just can't afford to loose you too." She stood from my bed, patting the top of my head once more before striding out of my room. I sat there for a minute, and stared at my sheets.

"_Come now Emiko! Why are you so sad?" My mother reached out to me, her smile genuine and her eyes sparkling. "you have too much to be happy about to cry Emiko. Please don't cry now. I'm here, I won't ever leave you."_

But despite the memory, I was soon sobbing, tears running down my face and clinging to my chin. I raised my head a fraction so I was looking to the heavens above and slowly whispered. "We all want to keep our promises, I'm sorry you couldn't keep yours mom."

¨©ª§Û§ª©¨

"Is your nose runny?" Tamaki was right in my face again, it was getting sort of irritating.

"Yes… but I can-"

"I'll get you a tissue!" Tamaki was off again one second, and then he was back, carrying a box of Kleenex and wearing a mask over his mouth and rubber gloves on his hands. I felt myself give in a bit as he pressed a tissue to my nose and commanded me to blow. I blew into it once and just sat there, giving him a look. He seemed to gross out and Honey came over with a trash bin to throw it in. Tamaki pulled off his rubber gloves and looked at me, I glared.

"Is that necessary? Seriously, I only have a slight stuffy nose! It's nothing you'll catch!" He seemed taken aback, and he pulled the mask off his face for a moment to speak to me clearly.

"My health is my everything Emiko-san! What would the girls do if I formed a cold, and had to be absent for a day? Why, there would be a riot of course! A riot of beautiful women would be demanding to see me, to give me 'get well' balloons! And that would cause trouble for the club too, seeing as they would have to deal with it all! And _furthermore_-" I stuffed a banana in his mouth so he couldn't continue.

"Thank you sempai, although I wish you'd just be quiet." He went to sulk in the far corner, the air around him turning a murky, purple colour. I blew out a breath and looked to the rest of the host club. It had been two days since my accident, and they all seemed to have gotten over it except for Tamaki… who now called me his daughter as much as he did to Haruhi. The girls hadn't started to arrive, so we did as we usually did… watch me being tortured by the king!

"So Emiko." Hikaru and Kaoru walked up behind me, making me jump a bit and turn around to look at them. "You're going to sit with us today, right?" They gave me those impish grins and I couldn't help but smile back at them.

"I said I would, didn't I? As long as you don't try to blow my nose for me again." I made my voice totally serious, I wasn't even joking about that. The twins held up their hands innocently.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Hikaru told me with a grossed out look.

"Cause we're not weird nose perverts like the boss." Kaoru finished for him. Tamaki looked over with an irritated expression, and was soon running over with a trail of dust behind him.

"A nose pervert am I? I am no such thing! How dare you have the nerve to call me such titles! I am not a pervert!" I sighed as he continued yelling at the twins, and walked over to Haruhi, who was busying herself with her math homework.

"Sorry about them." She said as I approached. "It's sort of sad that Tamaki is being even _more_ annoying." I nodded and sat down across from her.

"Just be glad you missed the boat ride." I blew out a breath. "I don't know if I'll be able to manage this much longer. The only one who _hasn't_ annoyed me is Mori-sempai." In fact, he was the only one who didn't talk to her… no wonder.

"You'll get used to them after a while, I mean… don't get me wrong," She sweat dropped and looked to them. "They are still annoying even after months… but you start to actually grow fond of them after a while." She shrugged and went back to her math.

"Haruhi…" I said quietly, tilting my head slightly. So Haruhi had grown fond of them? Did that mean she was in love with one of them? It didn't seem like she showed any interest… but I usually didn't even realize I liked something until I really got to thinking about it. She could just be oblivious to her feelings like I was… and Tamaki-sempai.

"Hey! Everybody get in costume!" Tamaki commanded. "I have the togas right here! We're going to be ancient Greeks today!" He seemed to brighten with the idea, although I'm sure it had been Kyouya who had summoned the idea. "I even made one for Emiko!" I sweat dropped and put up my hands.

"I'm not even part of the club…" But Kaoru and Hikaru were staring at me with shining eyes.

"Yeah… I've always wanted to see Emiko as a Greek goddess." They whispered to themselves. I felt my head hit the table. And the next moment I was being forced to let go of the table, and dragged into the dressing room… having the cosplay costume thrown at me by the twins.

I put on the costume, un-amused by it by all means. I knew what Tamaki's plan was… why in the world did he give me an Aphrodite costume?!?!? Just because I was blonde? Just because the beautiful white, Greek looking dress fit me snugly and perfectly? Because the golden shoes they had me put on, that made me a couple inches taller and wrapped up my lower legs like they were just meant for me. This was no coincidence… they had planned this all out. I pulled back the curtain, trying to contain what dignity I had left inside myself.

"We're going to do your hair and makeup too." Hikaru held up a brush and Kaoru held up a makeup kit. I felt like slapping the both of them.

"Why am I Aphrodite? I know I am, so don't lie!" The twins snickered and then pulled me over to a chair, beginning to work on my hair and makeup without answering my question. By the end of it, Hikaru had pulled and curled my hair into a bun on the top of my head, put a gold headband on, let my bangs curl over my eyes and let a few strands of hair loose at the sides. And with Kaoru's makeover… I really did look like a goddess. I stared at myself in the mirror. The twins stared too, obviously proud of their work.

"Umm… okay… can I go now?" I looked back at them with a pouty face, I hated thinking vain thoughts but… I looked really pretty! The twins nodded, holding their own costumes.

"We have to change anyway." They said together, grinning.

"The boss wanted us to kick you into the club room after you were done anyway. I still didn't get it… I wasn't part of the club… what did they want me to do anyway?…

¨©ª§Û§ª©¨

"More tea?… Ares?" My tone was quite sarcastic, because now I knew why… Kaoru looked quite uncomfortable. Hikaru couldn't make himself stop sniggering at him from under his hand, and at me for that matter. Stupid Tamaki. Everybody at the table was gazing at us enviously… everybody knew that in Greek legend Aphrodite and Ares had a huge love affair behind Aphrodite's husbands back. But what was even worse for Kaoru, is that Ares was known as a cruel coward, and was the god of war.

Other than us, Tamaki was Zeus… figured. Haruhi was Hera… much to her horror. Kyouya was Hades… much to his irritation. Honey was Apollo. Mori was Poseidon. Hikaru was Hermes, which fit his character really, very well indeed.

"Oh, Emiko! You look so beautiful as Aphrodite!" One of the girls said, who was obviously under the spell of the flames of Moe. I blushed and smiled at her.

"But not as pretty as you!" I told her and she smiled at me, like getting a compliment just made her life! I do admit, I liked making people smile… but it was sort of weird… having a whole line of boys watching me from across the room. This had been the plan all along. That money grubbing Kyouya… no wonder he was cosplaying Hades.

"You should be with your guests, Emiko. After all, today you'll be starting as a host in training; girl or not. And it will give our host club a few advantages as well." Kyouya didn't even turn around to look at me as he scribbled furiously in his little binder. I glared at the back of his head.

"But I promised the twins I'd sit with them today." I retorted. "And besides, why do I have to become a host?" Kyouya smirked… I couldn't see… but I could just tell.

"You owe me for saving your life." He told me. I felt my jaw slacken and I stared at him with my left eye twitching.

"Yes Mr. underworld." I grumbled, and went over to sit at the empty table. I glanced at Haruhi with a mortified expression as the boys all gathered around and started asking me questions all at the same time. I could feel Tamaki's eyes on me… an over-protective "dad" look.

"So Otori-san invited us. He said that you would be hosting for a while!" A boy a grade ahead of me, whom I didn't know the name of, leaned in and smiled, his cheeks forming a blush. I gritted my teeth into a fake smile.

"Umm… I won't promise anything. It's fun around here, but I think that becoming a host is too much stress." Besides… that means I'd have to do my homework at _home._

"_So you don't want to talk to us?" Another boy said. I held up my hands innocently._

"_Of course that's not it! I'd love to get to know you guys more. It would be great." I gave them a really big smile, the one my grandmother said could melt hearts. The boys around me seemed entranced._

"_Hey Emmmmmiko!" I heard Kaoru holler over to me. _


End file.
